REDISCOVERING ZEN’S ROOTS IN ANCIENT CHINA

Join us Apr 6 - 8 for Rediscovering Zen's Roots in Ancient China with philosopher David Hinton who teaches at Columbia University. His books include Existence: A Story, The Wilds of Poetry, and his translation of the Ch'an classic No-Gate Gateway (Wu-men Kuan) is forthcoming.

Guidelines for the Honorable Harvest

“The guidelines for the Honorable Harvest are not written down, or even consistently spoken of as a whole—they are reinforced in small acts of daily life. But if you were to list them, they might look something like this:

Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life.Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.Never take the first. Never take the last.Take only what you need.Take only that which is given.Never take more than half. Leave some for others.Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.Share.Give thanks for what you have been given.Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.”

—From Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (page 183). Shared in the dharma talk “The Three Sisters and the Honorable Harvest” by Wendy Johnson.